When Was The First Marathon?

Posted by Tony Christensen on Mar 29, 2018

The History of Marathons

We have a compiled a brief selection of myths/history about marathons below!

“In 490 B.C., the Athenian army defeated the invading Persian army in a battle in the plain of Marathon, located roughly 26 miles north of Athens. According to legend, the Athenians then ordered the messenger Pheidippides to run ahead to Athens and announce the victory to the city.

Pheidippides raced back to the city in intense late summer heat. Upon reaching the Athenian agora, he exclaimed “Nike!” (“Victory!”) or “Rejoice! We Conquer” and then collapsed dead from exhaustion.” (1)

It is said this was the start to deciding how long a marathon should be, however there has been slight differences in marathon length throughout history!